Tyrone Power & Joan Fontaine in "This Above All" (1942)

In England, during early days of the Second World War, Prudence Cathaway (Joan Fontaine), daughter of the aristocratic General Cathaway (Henry Stephenson), announces to her snobbish family that she has joined the Women's Auxiliary Force. When the Cathaways balk at her decision, Prudence lectures them on their outdated values.
At the WAAF training camp, Prudence befriends Violet Worthing (Queenie Leonard), who soon fixes her up with Clive Briggs (Tyrone Power), an army friend of Violet's sweetheart, Joe (John Abbott). Unaware that Prudence is from aristocracy, Clive declares his distaste for all of England's upper class, but Prudence falls in love with him anyway. As their romance flourishes, Clive and Prudence go on their first military leave together, taking a seven-day vacation at the Dover Grand Hotel.
In Dover, Prudence runs into her Aunt Iris Cathaway (Gladys Cooper), but the two merely exchange unfriendly glances. Fearing that her aunt will tell her family about her affair with Clive and that she will be further ostracized by them, Prudence becomes distraught. Clive, too, begins to act strangely, yelling military orders in his sleep and becoming generally distracted.
Later, when Prudence reads the telegram that seemed to trigger Clive's unusual behavior, she learns only that his friend Monty (Thomas Mitchell) is coming to visit him. Prudence later learns that Clive deserted the army after being wounded at Dunkerque, and that Monty has come to return Clive to his regiment before he is officially listed as a deserter. Clive eventually confides in Prudence that he left the service because he disliked defending England's aristocracy. Prudence responds by giving Clive an impassioned lecture about the glory of England. Her speech brings tears to her eyes and drives Clive away.
Clive sets out on foot but does not get far before a farmer (Billy Bevan), mistaking him for a spy, assaults him. The bloodied Clive takes refuge at a nurse's home, but the nurse learns that he is a suspected spy and threatens to call the police. Clive then seeks help from a Vicar (Thomas Louden), who lectures Clive on faith and inspires him to return to his regiment.
Before turning himself in, however, Clive sends Prudence a message to meet him at Charing Cross so that they can be married. On his way to Charing Cross, though, Clive is arrested by military police and taken to headquarters. After pleading with his commander, Clive manages to secure a two-hour leave so that he can meet Prudence one last time. Clive's second attempt to get to Charing Cross in time to meet Prudence is stymied when he is wounded while rescuing a woman and her child from a burning building. Clive is rushed to a hospital, and as his life hangs in the balance, Prudence arranges an impromptu wedding. At Clive's bedside, a nurse, reading from Shakespeare's play Hamlet , says, "This above all: To thine own self be true," after which an air raid siren is heard and darkness descends on the room.
A 1942 American Black & White romance film directed by Anatole Litvak, produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, screenplay by R. C. Sherriff, adapted from Eric Knight's 1941 novel of the same name, cinematography by Arthur Miller, starring Tyrone Power, Joan Fontaine, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Stephenson, Nigel Bruce, Gladys Cooper, Philip Merivale, Sara Allgood, Alexander Knox, Queenie Leonard, Melville Cooper, Jill Esmond, Holmes Herbert, Denis Green, Arthur Shields, Dennis Hoey, Thomas Louden, Miles Mander, and Mary Field. Final screen appearance of Mrs. Wilfrid North.
Appearing in this film are no fewer than twenty performers who appeared in at least one of the Sherlock Holmes movies with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, the latter playing Ramsbottom.
Clive (né Vivian) James chose his name from this character.
The title comes from the famous line in William Shakespeare's "Hamlet," Act I, Scene III: "This above all, to thine own self be true."
Winner of the 15th ACADEMY AWARDS | 1943, Academy Award for Best Art Direction (Black-and-White). Art Direction: Richard Day, Joseph Wright; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little. It was nominated in several other categories, and was the only non-Best Picture Oscar nominee that year to be nominated for Best Editing.
"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation of the movie on September 14, 1942, with Tyrone Power reprising his film role.
Soundtrack music:
"Loch Lomond" - Traditional
"Smiles" - Music by Lee S. Roberts
"Old Soldiers Never Die" - Traditional
"Keep the Home Fires Burning" - Music By Ivor Novello, Lyrics by Lena Guilbert Ford
The New York Times, described Anatole Litvak's engrossing romantic drama as "a taut and poignant war film" and "a very moving love story with a sensitive regard for tensile passions against a background of England at war".
Fontaine's radiant performance and Power's handsomeness make a fine romantic pairing, and this rises above propaganda to be enduring sweet and romantic entertainment.

[@Sherryrush-s7q]

I am 75years young and have always had a Crush on Tyrone Power❤❤❤

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Welcome. I post Tyrone power movies here: kzbin.info/aero/PLk3CReZFhoBe9eZRJQNjIs5UTYaSwIXQD

[@waterbourne9282]

Fabulous, simply fabulous. Sobering to think this was made during the war it was set in.

[@melodiefrances3898]

Yes. And fascinating too, in some ways ...

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

That's an interesting thought. Thanks for watching.

[@90FF1]

Fontaine and Power worked well together. Joan was a class act. The entire cast was well chosen. Sets were very realistic for having been filmed in the USA..Very enjoyable Thank you..

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Roger that. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@deaddocreallydeaddoc5244]

I'm 72, and here is another gem that I have never seen. What a wonderful wartime film, dealing with so many profound subjects, from patriotism to social culture, to love and class barriers, reason and faith, and even Shakespeare! And so many wonderful character actors! Thank you for finding this film and uploading it! SUB SCRIBED

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Thanks for the sub. Welcome! FYI - I post War movies here: kzbin.info/aero/PLk3CReZFhoBfTLfRUxFNzKZgdMZ0Bd2vA

[@sonnytrinh386]

Perhaps I am being sensitive as age advance, the very end of this movie just quite touching make me cry somehow, thank you very much for the movie. They don't make movie like this anymore. Once again thanks.

[@AndyAverill-o8p]

I ran out of hankies. What a find!

[@elaineproffitt1032]

Yes, they make good movies, however, they are filled with nudity, bad language, contempt for the establishment, anti war messages, and bloody violence. I believe, as in this movie, that can all be said without the stark reality of all that slapping me in my face as I eat my popcorn. If that's the kind of entertainment then so be it. At the age of 70 I've had enough of reality and prefer some ENTERTAINMENT. I enjoy the acting and the morality presented in the short two hours. Thank you.

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

I hear you. Thanks for watching.

[@rescuepetsrule6842]

As a female Marine, I've always admired the way Women worked during the War. If the haughty Germans hadn't bragged they didn't need THEIR women doing men's work, and their women had worked like the English, US and Russians did, who knows how much harder they would have been to defeat? Lovely old movie, with Joan giving a long-winded, gushing speech about what England 'is'. She and Tyrone surely made a beautiful couple. TY for this post!

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Welcome. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[@chrisbowen9043]

BOTH Tyrone Power and Joan Fontaine are exceptional in their performances, and possibly the most aesthetically beautiful couple in cinematic history, here.

[@kmterpin]

...as were Laurence Olivier & Merle Oberon in "Wuthering Heights", that is, another aesthetically beautiful couple in cinematic history.

[@richardchambers3533]

And Rita Hayworth/Glen Ford 👍

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[@arvettadelashmit9337]

I joined the Women's Army Corps in 1966. My parents did not want me to join. People had low opinions of women being in the military back then (some still do). I did not have as much freedom as Joan Fontaine's charter had in this movie. Women in the Army had to travel in groups of three (or more) back then. We were never allowed to go out alone after dark.

[@sherryhurt7697]

Thank you for your service.

[@redtobertshateshandles]

All smart people know that women make up 50% of the population, and therefore, it's great to have their help.

[@LaurenaLaCroix]

❤❤❤ thank you, I was born in 1966

[@RoseSharon7777]

Isn't that ironic given the difference in crime rates compared to 2024! You'd think it would be the opposite.

[@jeanmarie4462]

@arvettadelashmit9337 I joined the regular USAF in 1978 as an Airman, because that was the rank given to both men and women. As a woman, we trained alongside of men, except of course sleeping quarters and the obstacle course, staying in our squadron formation. My father especially thought I was crazy, but I wanted to attend college and let him know that. It gave me a solid start in life from which I benefitted. Thank you for paving the way.

[@janet-zk2kl]

My English mother, June Edith Neal Marston Harris, joined the WAAFs in 1941 at age 16 after graduating with high honors from a private girls' school in Brockenhurst, England. Her mother was very unhappy about this but her father was supportive and signed for her. By the next year, age 17, she made Corporal. And the next year at age 18 she met my American Sailor father at a military dance in Cardiff, Wales. And at age 19 she married him in a 12th century Anglo-Saxon church, Eling St. Mary's, in her village of Totton. Mother was in the first crossing of GI War Brides in Feb. 1946 to NYC on the RMS Queen Mary which was still painted battleship gray from transporting US troops to England

[@karenhill3970]

How very awesome

[@deerhoda7574]

Excellent story, thanks for sharing!

[@cattymajiv]

My mum was a little child during the bombing of England. She got moved out of London in The Evacuation with most of the other kids, but never forgot the bombing.

[@rosemariemann1719]

@@cattymajiv Yes, that sort of experience stays with you... I know someone whose family were "bombed out "and at age 87, she is still " haunted " by the trauma of the war... 🇬🇧🦉🤔🌈😢🦉🇬🇧

[@lucreciabalcorta]

Traductor español

[@Sophiecjp]

Excellent movie. I love Joan Fountain and Tyrone Powers.

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Glad you like it. Welcome.

[@carlenehall2979]

Oh my goodness, what a good story! I enjoyed this very much. Thank you for showing it.

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Welcome. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@mcpheejesus5945]

Good movie; a beautiful love story featuring 2 of my favorite actors, the very handsome Tyrone Power & lovely Joan Fontaine. Thanks for sharing!

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Welcome. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jamesdouglas5450]

Nice movie first time watching this with the lovely Joan Fontaine Tyrone Power played his part well also the great Thomas Mitchell was as good as ever

[@jamesdouglas5450]

Thanks for liking my comment

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Glad you enjoyed it! I post Tyrone Power movies here: kzbin.info/aero/PLk3CReZFhoBe9eZRJQNjIs5UTYaSwIXQD

[@MariaLacsamana-ik3in]

A great movie, an awesome pair , Tyrone power n Joan Fontaine, thanks for uploading it 😀 😊 👍 😄 ☺️ on you tube 😀 😊 😄 😉 👍

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Welcome. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@mikeballard8404]

Joan Fontaine is a great, beautiful actress.

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Roger that. I posted Joan Fontaine in "Jane Eyre" (1943) here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2Wln4p7ebhgprs

[@Sherryrush-s7q]

I love reading all the comments:You are all SO Wonderful!!!!

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Thanks for your support. I appreciate it.

[@nata3467]

thank you for posting - so great to find previously unknown movies

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Glad you enjoyed it! I post 1940s movies here: kzbin.info/aero/PLk3CReZFhoBeBy_sp9bjwIeMvW_JZ57B_

[@buzsalmon]

A grand movie from a very difficult time.

[@philthycat1408]

Nicely put 👍🏻🇬🇧

[@cattymajiv]

The British deserve so much credit for their strength in adversity and courage, just like the Ukrainians do today. I nearly burst into tears at the grocery store last week, when the cashier told me he was a refugee from Ukraine. SLAVA UKRAINI ! ! ! 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Roger that. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Sherryrush-s7q]

Everyone of Joan Fontaine 's Movies are Oscar winner's she is amazing!!!!❤😢😮❤🎉❤

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

I posted Joan Fontaine in "Jane Eyre" (1943) here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2Wln4p7ebhgprs

[@waynemahler2455]

My first time seeing this: these war movies make me think of my father...

[@elmadixon8293]

Me too.

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

God bless your father. Thanks for watching.

[@robertwilkins8357]

Sad this fine actor and man died at 44 and I'm still going on at 83!

[@saraswatkin9226]

robertwilkins8357, according to bio i read of him, you probably led a cleaner life than him.

[@robertwilkins8357]

@@saraswatkin9226 how kind thank you.

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Thanks for sharing. Welcome.

[@followtheflow1083]

Tyrone Power and Joan Fountain, handsome and beautiful in class!❤❤

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Roger that. Thanks for watching.

[@Sherryrush-s7q]

The Acting is Marvelous the Stars are Big Wonderful Stars 🎉Thank You for the Movie ❤ It's Great 13:53

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@1LSWilliam]

A magnicent performance by Joan Fontaine. She is always too good to o be true.

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Roger that I posted Joan Fontaine in "Jane Eyre" (1943) here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2Wln4p7ebhgprs

[@pankajshah3422]

Not seen this movie yet.But due to good starcast,director,composer n photographer it tempts me watch.

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Thanks for the visit!

[@dianapearson1771]

Such a great movie 😢 !!!!!

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@AngelChester914]

Good movie. Thanks for posting.

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Welcome. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@robertwilkins8357]

When you watch these wonderfully old films, badly the smoking is depressing because so actors died fromit. My mother smoked for60 years and she suffered!

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

God bless your mother. Thanks for watching.

[@ReRiderChi]

A good film, worth watching

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@immaterialimmaterial5195]

Love it!!!

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@karenhill3970]

Anguished through whole movie afraid for Cleve.....bless ALL the Men HEROES everyone.& the women did their part ......good ending..🎚️

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Thanks for watching!

[@sonnytrinh386]

Wonderful movie.

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Roger that. Thanks for watching.

[@AndyAverill-o8p]

Thomas Mitchell superb as always.

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Roger that. Thanks for watching.

[@markbayer1573]

An impossibly beautiful military couple go on leave, check into a hotel and ask for... separate rooms? Um...okay. And it took me half an hour to figure out that Tyrone Power was playing a Brit, not an American! Never mind. This is a luminous, old school Hollywood World War II romance, buoyed by a truly gobsmacking twist. Joan Fontaine, who epitomized vulnerability in Hitchcock's Rebecca and Suspicion, adds backbone and gives two great barn-burning speeches; Power, who'd been fighting for roles with more depth, lays the groundwork for his truly astonishing work in the original Nightmare Alley (the best American film of 1947). Like Mrs Miniver, also released in 1942, this is a powerful portrait of the British role in beating the Nazis; unlike that Oscar winner, which venerated their way of life to the point of near-worship, this questions aspects of it but still argues that it's worth fighting for. That may make this one an even more effective wartime statement. 8/10.

[@elaineproffitt1032]

Well said!!

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Thanks for clocking in with all of this!

[@angloaust1575]

My mother was in the wraaf Based at stanmore and biggin Hill was on the plotting tables During battle of britain!

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

God bless your mother. Thanks for watching.

[@judycochran4473]

Ty❤

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Welcome.

[@trilbywilby7826]

1:05:35 What a beautiful speech! But what of England now? England is on fire. God save the West!

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[@richardchambers3533]

Interesting. This movie was made in 1942. Joan Fontaine mentions the Womens Auxiliary Air Force. Our modern day Air Force was created September 18, 1947.

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) was a British Royal Air Force (RAF) auxiliary unit established in 1939 to free up RAF personnel for front-line duties during World War II. King George VI established the WAAF on June 28, 1939.

[@oz93666]

8:48 " You ain't a Blue Stockng?" noun: blue-stocking an intellectual or literary woman.

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Thanks for the info!

[@stephanierodriguez3828]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

👍

[@deerhoda7574]

❤😊

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

👍

[@pierredecine1936]

Joan Fontaine is the half-sister of Olivia De Havilland , different Fathers .

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Roger that. Thanks for watching.

[@rosalinablanco7764]

En español por favor!!!

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Sorry, and thanks for watching.

[@suzysuzy4799]

💚🙏😇🙏💚

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

👍

[@kmterpin]

SPOILER Question: Does that dreadfully handsome man recover or not???? SPOILER Answer: Unclear.

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Thanks for watching.

[@royboy9361]

Dear Prudence, won’t you come out to play?

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Ha! Thanks for watching.

[@fifthbusiness1678]

Excuse my ignorance vis a vis older English idioms, but does “blue stocking” mean lesbian? At 9:00 in the woman asks Joan Fontaine (when she didn’t want to go to the dance): “You’re not a blue stocking, are you?” And she responds “Absolutely not.” Sorry, shall enjoy the rest of the film now but was curious … Wonderful film. Joan Fontaine was a transcendent beauty and actor. Perhaps didn’t have the eyes of her sister, but everything else and then some.

[@doreekaplan2589]

No. It refers to snooty "high" society.

[@suemclean2670]

I think it refers to a group of women in Bloomsbury UK, who were interested in intellectual subjects. They often wore rather thick lisle wool stockings coloured blue. The most derisory opinion of them could not manage more than an attack on their stockings. The women were generally upper class, well bred, educated and able in answering their detractors. They tended to be forerunners for the women’s movements seeking rights and votes. They were a resilient breed! I am grateful they attempted to awaken society to the value of women from all walks of life. The groundwork was laid long before World War One after which the UK recognised the services of women by granting them the vote.

[@redtobertshateshandles]

Bookworms. Lesbians are something else. 😂

[@cattymajiv]

@@suemclean2670 While that's all true, the term did come to refer to all of the women in the "upper classes" just like the term "blue blood" did. The two terms were interchangable.

[@cattymajiv]

@@redtobertshateshandles No. It meant the same as " blue blood", or in the "upper class".

[@gwenhutson]

Sappy. Music too maudlin.

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[@christopherbowen2547]

Joan is magic but poor Tyrone was. Cast as a cosmic jerk.

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and opinions.

[@aliciadono2952]

😊

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

👍

[@redtobertshateshandles]

Tyrone was a pretty handsome guy. Not in Errols league, but I suppose that we can't all be Irish. Maybe Tyrone wasn't a bastard. 😂

[@jaengen]

Pee wee Herman beats both of them.

[@cattymajiv]

Maybe @redtobertshateshandles is exactly what he claims Powers wasn't. As if anyone gives a sh*t about the martial status of people anymore. There are few things as unimportant as that peice of paper.

[@cattymajiv]

@puttentanesame6687 You don't really think we care do you? Or maybe we should ask why do YOU care? Are you fixated on that?

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[@merewynyard5813]

TYRONE POWER a good actor i like him but this film has too much narrative for me...T Y anyway.

[@merewynyard5813]

@puttentanesame6687 👋❤️

[@cattymajiv]

@puttentanesame6687 Yes. I've never even heard anyone complain about "too much narrative" before.

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[@taniadutta6163]

❤

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

👍

[@patriciacarter6806]

😊

[@DonaldPBorchersOG]

👍